Editor's Introduction
1992; Purdue University Press; Volume: 10; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/sho.1992.0008
ISSN1534-5165
Autores ResumoVol. 10, No.3 Spring 1992 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION by Michael M. Laskier Michael M. Laskier, the Special Editor of this issue, is a specialist in Jewish/Middle East History. A graduate of UCLA, he is involved with the Sephardic Educational Center-an international organization headed by Dr. Jose A. Nessim-where he serves as the executive director of the Executive headquarters in Los Angeles. Currently he is also affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, having taught at Tel-Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, and the University ofJudaism. His publications include many articles and books. Those books published in recent years include The Alliance Israelite Universelleand thejewish Communities ofMorocco: 1862-1962 (Albany: SUNY Press, 1983); The jews of Egypt: 1.920-1.970-In the Midst of Zionisrn, Anti-Semitism and the Middle East Conflict (New York and London: NYU Press, 1992); Maghribijewry in the Shadow ofVichy and the Swastika (Tel-Aviv: Tel-Aviv University, 1992); and North African Jewry in the Twentieth Century-A Social and Political History (forthcoming). Two additional books are in progress: TheJews ofFrance: 1944-1969-From Liberation to the End of the de Gaulle Era and The Palestinians and Israeli Society. 1 This issue pertaining to the Sephardim was edited on the occasion of the quincentennial anniversary of the expulsion of Spanish Jewry. It is a multi-disciplinary volume, accentuating vital aspects of Jewish thought, philosophy, and history. The common threads weaving through this collection of essays are themes of the Sephardim's contribution to the Jewish world as well as to the society at large, their adjustment to the new milieu, and their reaction to sociopolitical developments in the Diaspora and Palestine. Though dedicated to the five hundred years since the expulsion, the special issue of Shofar is by no means confined to the post-1492 period and includes new research data on life in Spain long predating the exodus. 2 SHOFAR Jose Faur's "Two Models ofJewish Spirituality" is an in-depth study of both the Andalusian and Catalonian forms of Jewish devotion in pre1492 Spain. Challenging historians who sought to portray Spanish Jewry as "Maimonidean," Faur demonstrates convincingly that there were two parallel spiritual traditions-the Maimonidean/Andalusian rationalistic and the MysticaVCatalonian components. Whereas the Andalusian Jewish elite was influenced by Islamic religious and cultural trends, the Catalonian counterpart, whose main figure was R. Moses ben Nattman, came under Christian influence. A central theme permeating Faur's essay is that SephardiJewry since the twelfth century was also "magical" and "astrological ." Segments of the Jews accepted the idea of a dose, intimate relationship between demonology, spiritism, and religion. Rochelle L. Millen's "Isaac Abravanel's Concept of Monarchy" is an essay on a great savant of the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, and medieval Christian philosophy. A humanist, a man of reason, albeit an anti-rationalist , affected by mystical concepts, Abravanel settled after 1492 in Naples: the center of Italian humanism. Among his more significant contributions in the area of political teaching was an analysis of the ideal form of government, notably for the Jews. Millen shows that Abravanel did not consider the medieval monarchies as the preferred system ofgoverning the people of Israel. He felt Jews should rely on divine guidance. And considering that most monarchical systems were wrested from God rather than instituted by God, they were of diminished value. Monarchies were corrupt; kings abused their power-despite the fact that, theoretically, covenants between monarchs and their people had been made, in which it was assumed that the former would govern within the law; and, more often than not, social and political chaos prevailed. The best form of government for the Jews had to be the Divine Kingdom, in which respect is bestowed upon God. Human rulers could not apply in the case of the Jews, especially Maimonides' "philosopher-kings." David Harari's "Some Lost Writings of]udah Abravanel (1465?-1535?) Found in the Works of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)" is also highly unique and refreshing. Concentrating on Judah, son of Isaac Abravanel, Harari has picked one of the choicest philosophers and poets in early sixteenth-century Italy. Judah Abravanel's most important literary and philosophical...
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